A Doctor Told This Woman She Was ‘Too Fat To Run’—Here’s How She Proved Him Wrong

ix years ago, a doctor told Londoner Julie Creffield that she was too fat to run a marathon. She had none of it, and proved him wrong.

On Sunday (Nov 4), the 40-year-old mother of one will be taking part in her fourth marathon – in New York – “a dream come true.”

The professional life coach began her running career began in 2010, when she took part in a short race and came last.

“When I got to the finish line, there was no finish line left, everybody had left and gone home,” she tells AFP, dressed in black leggings and a pink hoodie, her blonde hair in a pony tail after a quick jog in Central Park.

She remembers feeling “very embarrassed and thinking maybe I shouldn’t be a runner, maybe I am not welcome in the running world.” So she decided to inspire other women of a similar shape.

“That’s when I started writing the blog,” called “Too Fat to Run,” she says.

“For me it’s about inspiring women of all shapes and sizes to give it a go,” she says.

“I feel quite passionate about larger women running, because we weren’t very visible in the running world. When you think runner, you think tall, slim, fast, and lots of people want to run for lots of other reasons.”

Creffield, who says she does not know how much she weighs, wears a dress size 18 in Britain, which is a 16 in the United States.